Sackville
Type: Hobbit Village *Inhabitants: 50% Stoor, 45% Harfoot, 5% Fallohide *Population: 110 *Origin: Settled during the migration to the Shire, TA 1601-1610; locals claim that Hobbits have inhabited the site since SA 1409. *Purpose: Agriculture Originally Sairinan (S. "Magician's Valley") had been an ancient Eriadoran village fallen into ruin after the Second Northern War.The Northmen who had settled here after T.A. 1412 , fleeing troubles in Cardolan ,had forgotten the village's old name in favor of Saccburh . Later that Hobbits formed the majority of its population , their name of Sackville was winning out.Proximity to the rugged Men of Eriador's Red Hills bestowed a (not entirely undeserved) reputation for crudity upon the residents of Sackville, who had taken on many of the uncouth ways of their neighbors.The second-largest town in the Southfarthing, the setting for wheatfields and orchards along the River Fayne and terraced vineyards and melon-fields on the nearby hills. The Sackvillians were rare among Hobbits in the pride they took in selling their goods "over the bounds". Wine and leaf from Sackville made its way to distant Saerlann in the south and even Dale in the far off eastern Wild. Folk from these parts came to Sackville to buy, and here they were not treated as suspiciously as they might be elsewhere in the Shire. History: Sackville had once been the northernmost outpost of quality wine-making in Eriador , but the Eriadoran vineyards fell into shrub-land after the Scourging of T.A.1409. The Northmen who settled here later made Saccburh a center of resistance to the Dúnadan lords of Cardolan. Various Lord Protectors considered cleanig the troublemakers out of the village, but found them to be a useful political tool. A mean-spirited but reasonably competent coalition of Northmen and Dunnish families ruled the river valley between Sackville and Axbridge , practically ignoring outside authority. They regarded Hobbits as vermin and acted against them as openly as they dared. The Hobbit claimed to the abandoned farmlands around Saccburh dating to the time of the Scourging when refugees first drifted into the area to scavenge after the armies. Serious Hobbit immigration began in T.A.1609, when Harfoot and Stoor clans caravanned north from Sarn Ford and began clearing fields both west and southeast of the village. Local thugs, led by the Northman Dorvic Yellowjay and the Dunman Calach of clan Meorag , drove off two of these clans before the Arthadan army could intervene, the worst single defeat Hobbits suffered during the early settlement years. The Cafflin and Dawfinger clans , whose remnants had resettled south of the White Downs closer to Iach Sarn , had not forgotten their loss. The tougher Redoak and Badger clans which had arrived about T.A. 1640. from the rugged frontier regions of the Barrow-downs , had dug into the village of Saccburh itself, taking over much of the trade in ponies and horses.Considered crude and loutish by most Shire Hobbits, they had proven their worth in a number of confrontations with the thugs dominating local politics. Indeed ,the "Wild Clans" had soon managed to give a Hobbit name to the village of Saccburh: "Saghwed, " a feeding station for horses, first time spelled "Sackville " by Prince Minastir of Sarnford's scribe.Three families named after Sackville lived in the town in the 29th century of the Third Age. Longo Baggins, brother to Bungo Baggins, the excavator of Bag End, married Camilla Sackville, a local heiress, and thereby started the ill-fated line of the Sackville-Bagginses. Otho Sackville-Baggins, their only son, wed Lobelia Bracegirdle of Hardbottle.The Sackville-Bagginses were, before the corruption of Lotho Sackville-Baggins, just one of a number of wealthy and industrious families in the Sackville area. Frodo Baggins , an unproperried cousin of the Sackville-Bagginses, served as an apprentice to Otho for several years. He did not enjoy it, nor was he well-liked by Lotho, his son. He was successful enough, however, to convince Bilbo Baggins, heir to the primary Baggins holdings, that he would make a suitable heir and manager of the family estates. Since the Sackville-Bagginses were next in line for the inheritance, they took Frodo's good fortune as an act of personal treason. Frodo was obliged to keep an eye on Lotho's machinations in the Southfarthing for his own protection. Unfortunately, Frodo's preoccupation with the Great Ring kept him from learning the extent of Lotho's plotting until it was too late.Lotho, cursed with great ambition and a mediocre mind and heart, sold out to Saruman the Wizard and became, for a short time ,a renowned and hated tyrant. He was murdered at Saruman's command and his family disgraced. Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, the last survivor of the line, sold or gave away most of its holdings. Places of Note: *Bard's Glade *Harold's Tower *North field *Old north-south road *Old Troll-hill *Proudfoot Manor *Ranger campsite *Running Brook *Sackville-Baggins Manor *Wagon road Inhabitants: 1640: Calach Dorvic Yellowjay Molloye Other times: Camilla Sackville Longo Baggins Otho Sackville-Baggins 3019: Amalda Sackville-Baggins Bruno Bracegirdle Lobelia Sackville-Baggins Lotho Sackville-Baggins Miranda Sackville-Baggins Otho Sackville-Baggins Sago Sackville-Baggins Notes: Original Form: Buhr Sachem (corrected to "Saccburh"). References: *MERP:the Shire Category:Village Category:Shire Category:Arthedain